Method of high current density arc welding



June 8, 1954 H. l. SHRUBSALL METHOD OF HIGH CURRENT DENSITY ARC WELDING Filed Dec. 20, 1952 r J 0% (43 .4. a 27 34 g 22 IA WELDING CURRENT 26 SOURCE y 12 14 CURRENT -0 SOURCE 14 A'- INVENTOR HARRY LSHRUBSALL ATTORNEY Patented June 8, 1954 METHOD OF HIGH CURRENT DENSITY ARC WELDING Harry I. Shrubsall, Scotch Plains, N. J., assignor to Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation, a corporation of New York Application December 20, 1952, Serial No. 327,083

NT OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to arc welding and more particularly to submerged-melt welding and sigma welding in which a relatively stiff arc is used. Submerged-melt welding is disclosed in the patent to Jones et al., No, 2,043,966; and sigma welding in the patent to Muller et al., No. 2,504,868. Both types of welding employ relatively high-current density arcs.

A great amount of work has been carried out in attempts to control or counteract adverse magnetic effects in arc welding in general.

known as are blow, which is a bending or deflux around the arc.

as the arc itself.

usually produces a flat, even weld.

come very uneven in appearance.

ing (especially when welding with direct current) past.

considerable difliculty and expense.

traveled :by the welding rod.

refractory electrode arc welding, the metallic unresponsive thereto.

and their control.

a more simple, effective and economical method of and means for eliminating arc wandering, in creasing the weld width, controlling the depth of penetration, and decreasing arc deflection in relatively heavy duty arc welding, than has been known heretofore.

This is accomplished by a simple water-cooled conductor in the form of a simple U-loop having its parallel legs arranged on opposite sides of the The current flowing The latter is The welding arc and connected to a suitable relatively high One magsource of alternating current, resulting in a pownetic phenomenon, for example, is commonly erful alternatin field the lines of force of which are concentrated in a vertical plane passing flection of the arc, and is produced by an unthrough the axis or the electrode and the path balanced or unequal concentration of magnetic to be welded by such arc.

Such magnetic fiux is genthrough the loop should be at least half of that erated by the welding current which passes flowing through the are. As aresult: through the electrode and the workpiece, as Well When such loop is energized, any tendency for A narrow, peaked weld, frethe arc to wander is eliminated. quently porous, is usually associated with a severe The weld width is increased and the weld surbackblow condition. A slight forward blow face improved.

If, however, It is possible to control the depth or penetrathe forward blow is too strong, the weld will betion of the Weld by adjusting the value of the current flowing through the magnetic loop. This problem is often acute in automatic weld- The degree of arc deflection backward decreases as the value of the current in the loop and has received considerable attention in the increases.

Most of the proposed solutions require When using the energized loop and welding heavy and cumbersome iron-core electromagnets away from the ground connection, the weld sur- Wh h e ned to travel with the welding faces are smoother than those obtained when action, or to be mounted under the work, with welding toward the ground connection.

The patent In the drawing:

to Jones, No. 2,152,194, for example, proposes the Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of an use of one or more iron-cored electromagnets arc welding set-up illustrating the invention; which are mounted to travel with the Welding Fig. 2 is a schematic view partly in side elevaaction lineally along the work adjacent the path tion and partly in section of such set-up; and

Figs. 3 and 4 are top plan views of patterns T e Va e f allXiliary agnetic fields in inert made with and without the invention.

gas shielded-refractory electrode arc welding of The comprises conductor such as the type disclosed by the patent to Meredith, copper pipe i the form of a, deep U loop. The No. 2,342,086, for example, has been investigated two Open ends of the U 1Oop are connected to and 15 known a .remdrkable Increase m a current source (A. C. or D. 0.) E72 by conductors 3 52 f gg gfi g gf i fggiig :4, It. The U-loop is laid fiat on the workpiece permanent magnet into the gas cup itself. While Wlth f j s Fenteled between the arc can be deflected in a. forward direction the legs h by a magnetic cup in the case of a fairly Soft are provided with cooling liquid, such as water, inlet such as those involved in inert gas shieldedand outlet connectlons is and ML The Weldmg electrode R is fed toward the welding zone by arcs, Such as those used in Submerged-melt and conventional rod feed means including a drive sigma welding, which are relatively stiff, are quite motor 22, from a supp y l and through an The present invention is annular contactor 26 which, with the workpiece concerned with such relatively hard or stifi arcs W, is connected to a conventional source 27 of welding current (A. C. or D, 0.).

zone is kept covered with a blanket 28 of conven- The main object or the invention is to provide tional granular submerged-melt welding composition during the operation.

Using the illustrated set-up a series of submerged-melt weld deposits were made, welding both away from and toward a ground connection 33, both with and without the energized loop iii. The workpiece was a plate insulated from both the worktable and hold-down clamps (not shown). The loop H! was insulated from the top surface of the plate W.

The welding conditions used in actual tests were, for example, a welding current of 675 amperes (D. C.r. p.), an arc voltage of -25 volts, a lineal Welding speed of 25 inches per minute, a blanket of -grade, 8 by 48-mesh Unionmelt (Linde) submerged-melt welding composition, and -inch diameter Oxweld (Lincle) No. 36 welding rod. The strength of the magnetic field was controlled by varying the value of the current flowing in the U-loop H from a minimum of 390 amperes (A. C.) to a maximum of 1425 amperes (A. C.). A series of weld deposits were made using similar welding conditions under blankets of 20-,

and -grade Unionmelt (Linde) welding flux i of various mesh sizes. For such series, a relatively constant current of 1100 amperes was conducted through the loop. Several welds also were made on 20-gage mild steel plates using a -inch overlap at a welding speed of 210 inches per minute, both with and without the magnetic field of the energized loop.

Observations of carbon arcs show very clearly that any tendency for the arc to wander is practically eliminated by the invention. Figs. 3 and 4, for example, show fused carbon arc patterns made with and without the energized loop. As shown in Fig. 3 the bead 32 is wavy due to are wander, whereas, the bead 34, Fig. 4, is straight by virtue of the beneficial effect of the field of the powerfully energized loop H3.

The weld surface becomes smoother and wider, with a decrease in penetration, as the value of the current in the loop is increased from 300 amperes. An examination of the electrode stubs indicates that the degree of arc deflection also is decreased as the current in the loop is increased. The value of the current flowing through the loop, however, should be not less than about onehalf of the value of the current carried by the arc.

The invention provides a marked improvement in weld quality on surface deposits, and it is possible to increase the weld width from to i inch by using the energized loop, with no other change in welding technique. For the welding or" lightgage materials, flatter welds at higher welding speeds also are made possible by the invention.

While I am unable to explain the phenomenon which accounts for the remarkable improvements in high-current arc welding brought about by my invention in the case of heavy duty arcs, the apparatus is quite simple and inexpensive, and suitable for sigma and submerged-melt arc welding. It is light in weight, easy to assemble with the workpiece, and requires little or no maintenance.

I claim:

1. Process of arc welding a workpiece with a relatively stiff are carrying a relatively high current which comprises applying a relatively powerful field the lines of force of which are adjacent and parallel to such are by means of a simple conductor in the shape of a U placed on and insulated from the workpiece to form a U-loop about the are, the legs of which are connected to a suitable relatively high source of current, and conducting current having a value of at least half that of the welding are through such loop.

2. Precess as defined by claim 1, in which said conductor is a pipe, and flowing cooling liquid therethrcugh during the welding operation.

Process as defined by claim 2, in which granular submerged-melt welding composition is heaped on the work over the loop and about the end of a welding electrode, which composition melts during the operation.

4. Process as defined by claim 1, which the arc and adjacent material are shielded by a suitable gas.

5. Process of arc welding as defined by claim 1, in which the source of current is alternating.

6. Process of arc welding defined by claim 1, in. which the source of current is direct.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 18,221 Lincoln Oct. 6, 1931 2,528,758 King is Nov. 7, 1950 

